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Construction on the arena could begin as early as August, with opening in '16

The Edmonton City Council yesterday approved the Oilers' proposed downtown arena by a 10-3 vote "following a last minute agreement" with team Owner Daryl Katz, according to a front-page piece by Gordon Kent of the EDMONTON JOURNAL. Construction on the new arena is scheduled to start "as early as August and open in 2016, not 2014 as originally scheduled." Negotiations on the project "broke off last fall after Katz, arguing the economics weren’t as good as they appeared when an agreement framework was approved in October 2011, asked for changes" that included a $6M (all figures Canadian) annual subsidy. Edmonton City Manager Simon Farbrother said that a summary agreement he and Katz signed Tuesday is "95 per cent similar to the 2 ...